1929 Major League Baseball season

This article is about the 1929 Major League Baseball season only. For information on all of baseball, see 1929 in baseball.

1929 MLB season
League	Major League Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Duration	April 16 – October 14, 1929
Number of games	154
Number of teams	16
Regular Season
Season MVP	NL: Rogers Hornsby (CHC)
AL champions	Philadelphia Athletics
AL runners-up	New York Yankees
NL champions	Chicago Cubs
NL runners-up	Pittsburgh Pirates
World Series
Champions	Philadelphia Athletics
Runners-up	Chicago Cubs
MLB seasons
← 1928 1930 →

Red Sox

White Sox

Indians

Tigers

Athletics

Browns

Yankees

Senators

Locations of teams for the 1923–1931 American League seasons
American League

Braves

Robins

Cubs

Reds

Giants

Phillies

Pirates

Cardinals

Locations of teams for the 1920–1931 National League seasons
National League

The 1929 Major League Baseball season began on April 16, 1929. The regular season ended on October 6, with the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Athletics as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The postseason began with Game 1 of the 26th World Series on October 8 and ended with Game 5 on October 14. The Athletics defeated the Cubs, four games to one.

Babe Ruth hit his 500th career home run this season on August 11 at Cleveland. Game 4 of the World Series featured a historic 10-run rally by the Athletics, nicknamed "The Mack Attack," after the team's manager, Connie Mack. ^[1]

This was the last of eight seasons that "League Awards", a precursor to the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (introduced in 1931), were issued. Only a National League award was given in 1929.

Teams

League	Team	City	Stadium	Capacity
American League	Boston Red Sox	Boston, Massachusetts	Fenway Park	35,000
	Chicago White Sox	Chicago, Illinois	Comiskey Park	52,000
	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland, Ohio	Dunn Field	21,414
	Detroit Tigers	Detroit, Michigan	Navin Field	30,000
	New York Yankees	New York, New York	Yankee Stadium	62,000
	Philadelphia Athletics	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Shibe Park	30,000
	St. Louis Browns	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	24,040
	Washington Senators	Washington, D.C.	Griffith Stadium	27,000
National League	Boston Braves	Boston, Massachusetts	Braves Field	46,500
	Brooklyn Robins	New York, New York	Ebbets Field	28,000
	Chicago Cubs	Chicago, Illinois	Wrigley Field	40,000
	Cincinnati Reds	Cincinnati, Ohio	Redland Field	26,060
	New York Giants	New York, New York	Polo Grounds	55,000
	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Baker Bowl	20,000
	Pittsburgh Pirates	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Forbes Field	41,000
	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis, Missouri	Sportsman's Park	34,023

Schedule

See also: Major League Baseball schedule

The 1929 schedule consisted of 154 games for all teams in the American League and National League, each of which had eight teams. Each team was scheduled to play 22 games against the other seven teams of their respective league. This continued the format put in place since the 1904 season (except for 1919) and would be used until 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League.

Opening Day took place on April 16 and saw eight teams across both leagues play. The final day of the regular season was on October 6. The World Series took place between October 8 and October 14.

Rule changes

The 1929 season saw the following rule changes:

• For all ballparks, foul poles must be constructed to be at least 25 feet above the outer barrier, to aid umpires in calling balls fair or foul. The poles were to be constructed either on top of the grandstand roof, or the outer fence of the ballpark. This was coupled with the home run rule, the interpretation of which follows the early-1920 rule, which states that balls are to be called based on where the ball crosses the outfield fence. This rule now accounts for all balls which leave the ballpark, including those which completely leave the ballpark. The American League would implement this home run rule in 1931. ^[2]
• The American League implements the ground rule double rule, which states that balls that bounce over the fence entitle the batter to two bases. The rule would be implemented by the National League in 1931. ^{[3] [4]}
• The Cleveland Indians and the New York Yankees are the first teams to make uniform numbers on the back of the jersey permanent. In the past teams, such as the St Louis Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians, had experimented with numbers before, but only on the sleeves and only for a few weeks.

Standings

American League v t e American League W L Pct. GB Home Road Philadelphia Athletics 104 46 0.693 — 57–16 47–30 New York Yankees 88 66 0.571 18 49–28 39–38 Cleveland Indians 81 71 0.533 24 44–32 37–39 St. Louis Browns 79 73 0.520 26 41–36 38–37 Washington Senators 71 81 0.467 34 37–40 34–41 Detroit Tigers 70 84 0.455 36 38–39 32–45 Chicago White Sox 59 93 0.388 46 35–41 24–52 Boston Red Sox 58 96 0.377 48 32–45 26–51

National League v t e National League W L Pct. GB Home Road Chicago Cubs 98 54 0.645 — 52–25 46–29 Pittsburgh Pirates 88 65 0.575 10½ 45–31 43–34 New York Giants 84 67 0.556 13½ 39–37 45–30 St. Louis Cardinals 78 74 0.513 20 43–32 35–42 Philadelphia Phillies 71 82 0.464 27½ 39–37 32–45 Brooklyn Robins 70 83 0.458 28½ 42–35 28–48 Cincinnati Reds 66 88 0.429 33 38–39 28–49 Boston Braves 56 98 0.364 43 34–43 22–55

Postseason

Bracket

	World Series
	AL	Philadelphia Athletics	4
	NL	Chicago Cubs	1

Managers

American League Team Manager Comments Boston Red Sox Bill Carrigan Chicago White Sox Lena Blackburne Cleveland Indians Roger Peckinpaugh Finished 3rd Detroit Tigers Bucky Harris New York Yankees Miller Huggins Art Fletcher Finished 2nd Philadelphia Athletics Connie Mack World Series Champions St. Louis Browns Dan Howley Washington Senators Walter Johnson

National League Team Manager Comments Boston Braves Emil Fuchs Brooklyn Robins Wilbert Robinson Chicago Cubs Joe McCarthy NL pennant winners Cincinnati Reds Jack Hendricks New York Giants John McGraw Finished 3rd Philadelphia Phillies Burt Shotton Pittsburgh Pirates Jewel Ens Finished 2nd St. Louis Cardinals Billy Southworth Gabby Street Bill McKechnie

League leaders

American League

Hitting leaders Stat Player Total AVG Lew Fonseca (CLE) .369 HR Babe Ruth (NYY) 46 RBI Al Simmons (PHA) 157 R Charlie Gehringer (DET) 131 H Dale Alexander (DET) Charlie Gehringer (DET) 215 SB Charlie Gehringer (DET) 27

Pitching leaders Stat Player Total W George Earnshaw (PHA) 24 L Red Ruffing (BRS) 22 ERA Lefty Grove (PHA) 2.81 K Lefty Grove (PHA) 170 IP Sam Gray (SLB) 305.0 SV Firpo Marberry (WSH) Wilcy Moore (NYY) 9

National League

Hitting leaders Stat Player Total AVG Lefty O'Doul (PHP) .398 HR Chuck Klein (PHP) 43 RBI Hack Wilson (CHC) 159 R Rogers Hornsby (CHC) 156 H Lefty O'Doul (PHP) 254 SB Kiki Cuyler (CHC) 43

Pitching leaders Stat Player Total W Pat Malone (CHC) 22 L Watson Clark (BKN) 19 ERA Bill Walker (NYG) 3.09 K Pat Malone (CHC) 166 IP Watson Clark (BKN) 279.0 SV Guy Bush (CHC) Johnny Morrison (BKN) 8

Awards and honors

• League Award
  • Rogers Hornsby, Chicago Cubs, 2B

Home field attendance

Team name	Wins	%±	Home attendance	%±	Per game
Chicago Cubs [5]	98	7.7%	1,485,166	29.9%	19,041
New York Yankees [6]	88	-12.9%	960,148	-10.4%	12,469
Detroit Tigers [7]	70	2.9%	869,318	83.3%	11,290
New York Giants [8]	84	-9.7%	868,806	-5.2%	11,283
Philadelphia Athletics [9]	104	6.1%	839,176	21.7%	11,340
Brooklyn Robins [10]	70	-9.1%	731,886	10.1%	9,505
Cleveland Indians [11]	81	30.6%	536,210	42.6%	7,055
Pittsburgh Pirates [12]	88	3.5%	491,377	-0.7%	6,465
Chicago White Sox [13]	59	-18.1%	426,795	-13.6%	5,616
St. Louis Cardinals [14]	78	-17.9%	399,887	-47.5%	5,193
Boston Red Sox [15]	58	1.8%	394,620	-0.6%	5,059
Boston Braves [16]	56	12.0%	372,351	64.0%	4,836
Washington Senators [17]	71	-5.3%	355,506	-6.1%	4,558
Cincinnati Reds [18]	66	-15.4%	295,040	-39.8%	3,783
Philadelphia Phillies [19]	71	65.1%	281,200	54.4%	3,700
St. Louis Browns [20]	79	-3.7%	280,697	-17.3%	3,645

Key events

• Babe Ruth: On August 11, Babe Ruth became the first player to hit 500 home runs.
• Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago Cubs: First season since 1912 that both pennant winners won by more than 10 games. ^[21]
• Philadelphia Athletics: On October 12, during Game 4 of the World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics scored ten runs in the seventh inning to come back from an 8–0 deficit. This was soon dubbed "The Mack Attack," after long-time manager Connie Mack. He commented that it was "The greatest thrill [he] had in 29 years of managing." ^[22] At the time, this was a record.

Deaths

• Miller Huggins, the Yankees manager, died of blood poisoning on September 25. ^[23]

References

1. "The 1929 Mack Attack | Society for American Baseball Research". sabr.org. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
2. sabr. "How Rules Changes in 1920 Affected Home Runs – Society for American Baseball Research" . Retrieved April 22, 2024.
3. O'Gara, Connor. "Future Hall of Famer Al López Hits the Last 'Bounce' Home Run in Big League History". Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
4. "Changes are Made in the Baseball Playing Rules by Joint Rules Committee". Santa Cruz Evening News. Santa Cruz, California. December 17, 1930. p. 8. Retrieved April 16, 2020– via newspapers.com.
5. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
6. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
7. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
8. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
9. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
10. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
11. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
12. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
13. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
14. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
15. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
16. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
17. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
18. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
19. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
20. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
21. Koppet, Leonard (1998). Koppet's Concise History of Major League Baseball. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 178. ISBN   1-56639-638-7.
22. Baumgartner, Stan (October 13, 1929). "Connie Calls Game "Greatest Thrill, Hugs Fans of Field". Philadelphia Inquirer.
23. "1929 Baseball Season". HowStuffWorks. August 24, 2007. Archived from the original on November 4, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2020.

External links

• 1929 Major League Baseball season schedule at Baseball Reference